East African Community Transboundary Conservation Workshop

InterWorks designed and facilitated the first EAC Transboundary Conservation Workshop, held in Arusha, Tanzania June 12 – 14, 2012. The EAC, in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the US Forest Service (International Programs) through support from USAID Africa Bureau, organized this regional workshop on transboundary conservation in the East Africa Region. The delegations from the five EAC countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), five neighboring partner countries and other partners attended the workshop.

The overall objective of the workshop was to trigger and promote transboundary conservation and management of shared terrestrial ecosystems for enhanced socio-economic development. The workshop participants looked at the current status of transboundary conservation in the region, other parts of Africa and globally and identified best practices, lessons learned and sought opportunities to build on to promote, develop and coordinate conservation initiatives in the future. The workshop resulted in a declaration document and roadmap citing the intent of the participants to build on current best practices and harmonize many of the existing mechanisms where possible and desirable.